Chap. 32.] THE POPLAR. 21 
leaves^^ is injurious to both the ears and eyes. The ashes of 
the excrescences of this tree heal such parts of the body as 
hare been burnt or frost-bitten. The bark, taken in wine, 
reduces the inflammation caused by the stings of scorpions. 
CHAP. 30. THE ASH : FIVE KEMEDIES. 
We have already made some mention of the virtues pos- 
sessed by the ash as an antidote to the venom of serpents. 
The seed of it is enclosed in follicules, which are good for 
diseases of the liver, and, in combination with wine, for pains 
in the sides : they are employed also for drawing off the 
water in dropsy. They have the property, too, of diminish- 
ing obesity, and of gradually reducing the body to a state of 
comparative emaciation,^* the follicules being pounded in 
wine and administered in proportion to the bodily strength ; 
thus, for instance, to a child, five of them are given in three 
cyathi of wine, but for persons in more robust health, seven 
are prescribed, in five cyathi of wine. 
We must not omit to state that the shavings and saw-dust 
of this wood are of a highly dangerous nature, according to 
some. 
CHAP. 31. — THE MAPLE : ONE KEMEDY. 
The root of the maple,^^ beaten up in wine, is extremely 
efficacious as a topical application for pains in the liver. 
CHAP. 32. THE POPLAK I EIGHT REMEDIES. 
We have already^^ mentioned, when speaking of the un- 
guents, the use that is made of the berries^^ of the white 
poplar. A potion prepared from the bark is good for sciatica 
32 The younff leaves probably, or else the fruit. 
33 In B. xvi. c. 24. There are still some traces of this notion existing, 
Fee says, among the French peasantry. All the statements here made re- 
lative to its medicinal properties, are utterly unfounded. 
^ In reality they have no such effect. 
35 See B. xvi. c. 26. The root of the maple, Fee says, has no marked 
qualities whatever. 
36 In B. xii. c. 61. The buds of the poplar, Fee says, are still used in 
medicine in the composition of an unguent known as ** populeum." The 
bark is astringent, and the wood destitute of taste. 
3' " Uvarum.'* Fee thinks that by these berries, or grapes, the blossoms 
or buds are meant. See Note 91 to B. xii. c. 61 
